The Key To Freedom
by Coleiosis
Summary: This is it! Another Coleiosis masterpiece which may be the last! Master Hand has brought together four realms, imprisoning Ratchet, Mario, Sonic, and Fox into a new world he had created! Also, Needles teams with Dr. Eggman, Bowser, and Wolf in a plan to take complete control in this new realm. The heroes must go through this violent trial and find Calypso in hopes of bringing peace


Coleiosis Fanfiction Presents…

The Key to Freedom

By Cole Bezotte

Introduction

How fantastic it seems!

I've been writing fanfiction for over two years, and I NEVER stop! If I DARE run out of ideas and have nothing left to do, I might let someone else carry the pen and continue where I had stopped. But for now, let me say, I am very proud to be writing this big piece of beauty, and I would LOVE to thank all my fans, partners, and readers. Even though I am not very popular on the FanFiction website, I am still happy to write anyway.

This new crossover brings together my greatest works. But how will the combined forces of Ratchet, Mario, Sonic, and Fox defeat the grouping Needles, Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and Wolf? You shall see very soon.

You remember well in the other crossover ("PlayStation All-Stars X Super Sonic Squad") how Calypso was arrested by King Maximilian Acorn? You'll see what happens to HIM too.

In case you are confused, you will have to go all the way back and read ALL of the series of "PlayStation All-Stars", "Super Sonic Squad", and the two Star Fox stories I wrote.

Enjoy!

Part A: The Gathering

Alone on the planet Veldin stood the greatest device ever created by bare hands: the Time Cube. Inside are two familiar figures, examining the latest upgrade of the main computer console. The Lombax known as Ratchet had finally cleared out all bugs and problems from the console, making it easily controllable both for him and for his young companion Pupuru.

Pupuru turned and looked nervously at one particular door. She knew that it was the door which lead to the raging time vortex, where the fiend known as Needles was imprisoned, perhaps forever. "As long as he is in there…" Pupuru began, "…we shall NEVER open this door."

"That is correct, my friend," Ratchet replied. "Needles stays where he belongs, and there is absolutely no escape for him. I am very glad that you helped me leave my foolish choice of going to the past. You are what made me come back; and it led to this forever victory over our number-one nemesis."

With one flip of a switch, Ratchet opened the door of the Time Cube. He then stepped outside and took a good sniff of the air of his planet. "Just like old times…" he thought silently as he walked on further.

But suddenly, a peculiar-looking being caught his eye. What seemed like a fox dressed in a ranger's suit stood at a far distance from Ratchet. Perhaps it was none other than Fox McCloud exploring this planet that was never familiar to him at first.

Ratchet was about to call out to Fox; but before he could, what looked like a strange, ghostly-white hand came down from the sky. Fox attempted to run away from it, but was not able to escape the hand's deadly grip, grabbing him and snatching him away from the face of the planet.

"What happened?" Pupuru said as she came outside.

"I have no clue as to whether it or not it was real," Ratchet replied. "But it looked like someone was snatched away by a ghostly hand!"

"Can it be that the Polygon Man has returned?"

"I don't think so; the Polygon Man is just a floating head. He doesn't have any hands! This seems like a NEW power to me. I hope Needles isn't doing anything nasty while in the time vortex."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of time and space, the mysterious hand held the frozen figure of Fox, placed upon a trophy stand. The hand placed his prize upon a round table, placing Fox next to the frozen form of his nemesis known as Wolf O'Donnell.

"This is only the beginning…" the hand thought. "Soon, the whole universe will bow to the power of Master Hand!"

Far away was the planet Earth, our home. At the busy, bustling city of Brooklyn, New York, two plumber brothers were met by an unexpected visitor. Inside the Mario Bros. Plumbing Shop, Dr. Mario was startled to hear an excitedly-sounding knock on his front door. He went over to the front and opened the door to see the familiar figure of Sonic the hedgehog.

"Sonic!" Mario exclaimed. "By golly, it's you! I never expected you to be here in Brooklyn!"

"I'm just here to give you a sample of that salesman's chili dogs," Sonic replied. "You've GOT to try them out!"

"I'll be right out. In the meantime, Luigi can run the shop while we're out."

Mario and Sonic walked out into the busy city streets, heading to the chili dog stand that Sonic had described.

"Ah, yes…" Mario began. "Bowser… Dr. Eggman… We've seen some times, Sonic."

"And Rech…" Sonic added. "Don't forget HIM."

"Oh, how can I forget? If it weren't for Courtney and Cobra, Rech would have laid that deadly blade upon our little fox friend."

 **(Note: Remember from Super Sonic Squad season three? Tails almost DIED!)**

"Say…" Sonic continued. "What about Spencer and Logan? Those two fought valiantly, they would have been great Freedom Fighters. Instead, we have those two funky monkeys: Donkey Kong and Funky Kong."

Suddenly, Sonic was interrupted by something peculiar up in the sky. He saw Master Hand charge down, coming to snatch him and Mario away. "Looks like we better juice!" Sonic exclaimed as he grabbed Mario's arm and dashed off.

Mario immediately recognized Master Hand once he laid upon him. "I can't let that creep come back for me!" he thought.

Sonic rushed around the corner into a dark alley, where he planned to get help from an old friend. "Prepare to be amazed, Mario," he said as he pulled something out from beneath his scarf. "I'll use this little device to contact a friend I made."

"But it's only one button!" Mario replied. "And that hand freak is coming right at us!"

"This is a risk I will have to take! I'll only have to press it once!" With that, Sonic pressed the button on the tiny remote right when Master Hand came and snatched him and Mario away.

Sonic's emergency contact was received by Ratchet himself. They had become friends ever since Ratchet was transported to Mobius and helped to stop Dr. Eggman's and Needles' plan to take captives for their deceased Egg Tooth Asylum.

Pupuru saw a red light flash on top of the Time Cube's console. "What does this mean?" she asked Ratchet.

"I'm getting a signal from somewhere else," Ratchet replied. "And according to this given status, it came from Brooklyn, New York. Wait a minute! Now I remember… Sonic is trying to reach me…"

"Sonic the hedgehog?"

"That's him alright. And from what it looks like, the signal was cut off immediately after he buzzed me. Something is definitely going wrong…"

"Don't you suppose Needles is causing all this?"

"He's in the time vortex; what havoc can he cause in there? Unless… Pupuru, hold onto the console as tight as you can. I'm going in there to fish him out of there."

"I hope you know what you're doing…"

With that, Ratchet opened the door to the time vortex, where he jumped right in and trudged as hard as he could through the strong winds to reach Needles. He managed to flush Needles out of there and bring him into the main room of the Time Cube.

"Why did you free me?" Needles spoke up. "What do you want with me?"

"Let's hope that you're not causing so much trouble out there!" Ratchet replied to him. "Some people have been wiped off the face of the universe, and only YOU would have such power to do so!"

"Don't be an idiot! I don't have that kind of power!"

Let us now turn our attention to a new place. Let us head for the enchanted kingdom of Hyrule, where rules Harkinian, king of the land.

 **(Note: Remember that Legend of Zelda epic I wrote in 2013? I'm bringing it back! We shall see what happened afterwards.)**

The king had called his daughter, princess Zelda, and the brave warrior Link to an emergency meeting.

"Zelda," Harkinian began, "Duke Onkland is under attack by the evil forces of Ganondorf. I'm going to Gamelon to aid him."

"But father…" Zelda objected, "…what if something happens to you?"

"I'll take the Tri-Force of Courage to protect me. If you don't hear from me in a month, send Link. My ship sails in the morning. I wonder what's for dinner." The king heard the dinner bell ring in the background.

As Zelda watched her father walk off towards the dining room, dark thoughts of doubt began to fill her mind. "I know this is a dangerous mission," she thought. "But I still worry about him."

Harkinian walked towards the large, long table, where he thought would be the meal that he had expected. But nobody was there at all; nothing had been prepared. He turned to see if anyone was still in the kitchen, but he was then startled to see Master Hand lower down to come grab him.

The king desperately tried to flee, but he accidentally tripped upon his cape, trampling onto the ground. Master Hand quickly snatched him away, but not before being shocked by the Tri-Force of Courage that the king held. Due to the power of Master Hand and the Tri-Force combined, Harkinian was instantly transported to the powerful time vortex, now Needles' replacement.

"I cannot cope with the power of the time vortex," Master Hand thought as he ascended back to his hideout in space. "It is too powerful for me to fiddle with. That fool of a king is now a captive, trapped within the vortex. And there he stays until someone far stronger can rescue him. Only someone like Calypso has the power to do so."

Back at Veldin, Ratchet heard a strange sound coming from the door that leads to the time vortex. He heard a desperate cry for help, coming from King Harkinian. "That's strange…" said Ratchet. "Maybe I programmed the Time Cube this way, and maybe I did NOT. Someone else is in there."

While Ratchet and Pupuru tried to identify the trapped king, Needles attempted to make good his escape. He snuck outside the Time Cube and began to run off across Veldin's flat ground. "Nothing can stop me now!" he thought. "I'll make sure that Ratchet receives the most unpleasant and painful end to his life!"

But Needles spoke too soon; Master Hand suddenly appeared right in front of him and snatched him away. Ratchet saw what had happened, so he quickly shut the door of the Time Cube.

"Blast that Time Cube!" Master Hand thought as he placed the trophy form of Needles next to Bowser and Dr. Eggman. "I never knew Ratchet would be incredibly intelligent! But it matters not for now; I must perform the deed that I was hired to do!"

Back inside the Time Cube, Ratchet and Pupuru held onto the main console as tight as they could, trying to fight the impact of a massive earthquake that took place.

"What is happening?" Pupuru exclaimed over the impact.

"I can't tell!" Ratchet replied. "But I know for a complete FACT that the mysterious hand is causing all this chaos!"

It was two minutes later that the rumbling finally stopped. Puzzled and confused, Ratchet was anxious to see what had happened outside.

"What might have happened?" Pupuru asked him.

"That, my friend…" Ratchet replied, "…is exactly what I want to go find out."

With one press of a button the Time Cube's door slid open. Once Ratchet stepped foot outside, a whole new world was open to him. This was a giant planet made of four different realms combined. The realms of Veldin, Earth, Mobius, and Corneria were all combined into one entire planet!

Far off in the distance, Master Hand had placed all of his victims into this new world that he had created. Needles, placed upon one of the plains of Veldin, looked around himself to see how much had changed.

"Not only am I placed in all this confusion…" he thought, "…but so is Ratchet. I wish I had an ice cream truck to smite him with."

And just like that, an ice cream truck suddenly fell from the sky. Needles ran over to it and looked inside to see that Dr. Eggman had already stolen it while on Mobius.

"What are you fools doing in my truck?!" Needles demanded.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Orbot replied, sitting in the back room.

"This is EGGMAN'S truck now!" Cubot added.

"You two be quiet!" Eggman snapped at them, sitting at the driver's seat. "I'll do the talking! We actually FOUND this truck on Mobius right after we broke out of prison."

"I left it behind…" Needles replied to Eggman, "…parked next to our deceased Egg Tooth Asylum. And if that's the case, you better give me back my truck!" With that, Needles forced himself into the driver's seat, pushing Eggman over to the passenger seat next to him. "We better go find our enemies and give them a big walloping they'll never forget!"

"I think what we should do first is find out what happened to all four realms. That giant floating hand not only messed with space, but with TIME as well."

Keeping Eggman's words in mind, Needles drove the truck out of the area, seeking for an answer to the madness. Master Hand was not the only subject behind the collisions of the realms.

Suddenly, a large life form also fell from the sky and landed right on top of the truck's hood. Eggman immediately recognized this dreaded dinosaur to be none other than Bowser, also known as King Koopa.

"Get off my truck, you cookie monster!" Needles shouted at him. "Can't you see we're on a mission?!"

Bowser crawled off the truck and stood right back up to his feet. "You don't have to be so darn rude about it!" he snapped back at Needles. "And as for you, Dr. E., I had everything under control until you took me as your captive! That Bob-omb I used almost killed Sonic successfully! We should have had that mission in the bag!"

 **(Note: What Bowser just said takes us back to Super Sonic Squad season one. Bowser simply called Eggman "Dr. E.", and used a Bob-omb to destroy the plumbing shop. It almost killed Sonic, but everything turned out okay at the end.)**

"Why don't you just climb aboard, lizard-lips," Needles said to him.

"You mean you're taking me with you on your mission?"

"Yeah," Eggman replied to him. "Now get in the back with my robots! And don't start mooching on the ice cream too early!"

"Why are you driving this thing anyway?"

"I thought I might use my technology and make some useful 'Napalm Cones'. Sorry for stealing your idea, Needles."

At another part of the new world, Mario and Sonic were placed randomly where Wolf was thrown down. "Where the heck are we?" Mario said as he looked around. "This is crazy!"

"It looks like we were knocked out cold and woke up in Manhattan," Sonic replied.

"This is absolutely way too much to be Manhattan! Are you out of your mind, hedgehog?"

Wolf woke up to see the doctor who had helped Falco Lombardi live again. He was facing the one and only Dr. Mario, master of physics and medicine. "This is impossible!" Wolf exclaimed. "What do you want with me?!"

"What I really want is to know what happened," Mario replied. "And I suppose you have something to do with it!"

"Believe me, I did not do ANY of this whatsoever! And in case you still want to hunt after me, you'll have to try even harder!" With that, Wolf swiftly jumped up to a rocky hill above him and dashed off.

"We better not let him get away!" Sonic said as he grabbed Mario's arm. "UP…OVER…AND GONE!" With that, Sonic ran off faster than the speed of sound, chasing after one of the four villains.

Ratchet's gaze was fixed upon the new world, never looking back at what Pupuru was more concerned about. Pupuru pressed her ear to the door of the time vortex, listening to the screams and pleads for help from the trapped king.

"I think we should let this poor fellow out now," Pupuru said as she groped for the controls at the console.

Ratchet heard what she had said, so he used his special remote control key to lock the controls and shut down the console. He looked down at the world below him; the place he never made. He saw Mario and Sonic chase Wolf down the land, but Wolf made easy his escape when he climbed aboard Needles' truck. The truck sped off, but Mario suggested to instead find more clues about Master Hand's plan.

"I see who is down there…" Ratchet thought silently. "If Sonic ended up in a twist like this, then there is only one thing I can draw from it: we are merely survivors. We're lost in this world, held as captives in something unreal. All we have is all we've got for this journey. That voice I had heard… it came from William Sparks…"

Indeed, after Pupuru had just spoke, Ratchet heard a voice roaring from inside his head. It was the voice of the one known as Calypso.

"Ratchet…" Calypso said, "…If you want a way out of this foreign realm, you must compete in my new competition. I promise you, as long as you are paired up with three other friends, you will survive. You may wish for everything to be back to normal as your prize. Arrive at my garage quickly; I am waiting…"

Ratchet closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Was this to be the end of his long journey of a life? He was about to step foot upon what might be the end for him. This new world was as dangerous as death, created by Master Hand himself. But something else was coming to him and the other heroes as well. This was planned secretly by a foreign alien who harbored a deep hatred for freedom. And Ratchet needed to defeat him and gain his victory. But if Ratchet would fail, all would be lost. And yet, he was ready to calmly walk through this trial and find his way to whatever may befall him.

Ratchet pressed another button on his remote and closed the door of Time Cube, keeping Pupuru inside. "Ratchet!" she screamed. "What are you doing?! Don't throw me away!"

"I'm not abandoning you," Ratchet calmly replied. "I'm taking you to safety. You must let me handle this without letting you die. You must do your best to free the king from the time vortex. If I survive what I am about to go through, I'll come back for you. But if I don't make it out alive, I'll let you take charge of the League of Heroes. Farewell, my magical friend."

The Time Cube vanished out of sight, taking Pupuru back to Los Angeles, back to the mansion of the League of Heroes.

While Pupuru had landed, Ratchet climbed down the steep mountain where he had landed the Time Cube. He finally reached ground level right when Sonic and Mario arrived at where he was.

"I knew you'd come even in a situation like this," Sonic said to Ratchet after stopping his feet. "Why did you send Pupuru away like that?"

"It was what I had to do," Ratchet replied. "She'll never be safe in this deadly environment. Who knows what that hand will do next; it looks like he has the power to pollute the air itself."

"That's just what Eggman did to turn the kingdom of Mobotropolis into his own utopia. And for your information, that giant guy up there is named Master Hand."

"He not only brought our worlds together into something alien…" Mario added, "…But he also brought us together to face the same wrath that might come our way. So far, I've already seen five villains and an ice cream truck."

Right then, Fox had arrived at the scene and joined the others. "Do you guys even know what the frick just happened?!" he spoke up, out of breath. "And is there some way we can conquer Master Hand and stop him in his deadly plan?"

"My friend…" Ratchet replied to him as he held out his hand. "If we are going to do this, we'll face it all together."

Convinced, Fox grabbed hold of Ratchet's hand and shook it in greeting and agreement.

Part B: The Master Plan

Far off in the distant universe, we find grim and foreboding the domain of Master Hand, where stood the king of the deceased planet of Straggo. Plague was still at large after the revival of Miles Prower, also known as Tails, and had escaped with his life away from the caves of the Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters.

"Thank you for your service to me, Master Hand," Plague spoke up. "I am very well pleased! You have served your purpose!"

"But I am not to put into effect the major part," Master Hand replied as he faded away. "It is up to your son…and Calypso…"

"May my son come forward!"

Hearing that command, a tall Straggon, dressed in princely attired, came forward before his father. Rech, first son of Plague, and older brother of Agape (formerly known as the diabolical Count Cobra), had come forth to put into action the next part of the master plan.

"I have come, my father," Rech spoke up. "Ever since the departing of Agape, we have been more successful. We can do much without him."

"Forget about your brother," Plague replied. "For he matters not in this plan. I am sending you on a very important mission. And I wish to see that you do not fail me."

"Please tell me; I am willing to listen and obey."

"Now that the four realms are combined into one, we have brought together our intended victims. You must go and meet the man who calls himself Calypso; it is there that you will compete in this competition that he will host. And in this derby, you must smite all the victims we have brought together. As your prize, you must ask for Straggo to be restored. The king of Mobius mercilessly destroyed our beautiful planet long ago; but now is our chance to bring it back, as well as our authority over it. And in return, I promise you the throne of Straggo itself; you are to be the next ruler over our beloved realm."

"It shall be done, my father. I will not fail you. But if I fail to win this contest, then Calypso must die for his arrogance!"

"Go, my son! And see to it that no one survives your assault!"

Having heard all those instructions, Rech took leave and began his journey down into the new world, where he would soon have exactly what he desired.

At that same time, Pupuru had found a place where she would get help. She landed the Time Cube at the kingdom of Hyrule, where a confused Zelda desperately searched for her father.

"Have you met my father?" Zelda asked Pupuru. "When one looks upon him, already there is a vision of wealth and honor."

"I think I have him stuck inside the time vortex, if I know whom you are speaking of," Pupuru replied. "I have already used the rest of my magic, but I still cannot free him. That hand that imprisoned him is too powerful for us to handle. And yet, I still cannot shake the feeling that my friend may not make it out of the new world alive."

"Be brave, little one. My father said to send my friend Link if nothing is heard from him. Now is his chance to fight and find a cure to the situation."

"I hope that we are not too late. Once your father is freed, I must go and find Ratchet immediately."

Much later, Mario's younger brother Luigi had found himself in this new world as well. He had walked for miles, searching for Mario until he came across something else. He found Tails, lying on the ground, and had just woken up from unconsciousness. "Oh…!" he moaned as he grasped his injured head.

"How did you get here?" Luigi spoke up to him as he helped him back up to his feet. "Where are the other Freedom Fighters?"

"They must be held captive or something…" Tails replied to him. "The next thing I knew, I was separated from Courtney. I can't let her die here in this foreign world!"

"I don't see her anywhere. Something tells me Rech is up to something very nasty; and he might have taken Courtney. But we can never be so sure. We've got to find out how all this happened, and how to get out of here."

Right then, the Time Cube began to materialize right in front of their eyes. The door slid open, and out came Pupuru, Link, Clank, and Falco Lombardi. "Who the heck are you guys?" Luigi spoke to them.

"We only came here for help!" Pupuru replied. "I remember you, Tails. Do have any idea as to where Ratchet had gone?"

"I don't know where he is," Tails answered her. "And I can't find Sonic or Mario either. But if you have an idea of what I think it is, I think we should join together and go find them."

"But our hands are already tied at the moment," Link interrupted. "No matter how hard we try, we can never free his majesty out from the time vortex. Even this little live contraption cannot cope with it."

Clank scowled, hearing what Link had called him. "The Time Cube is still able to travel," he said. "But most of the controls are still locked. I still say we should go and find our colleagues. Perhaps, with their help, we can open this door and access the time vortex. But we will also have to defeat our adversaries to help make it easier."

"This seems to be our only choice," Luigi agreed. "Let's go!"

Very late that night, Ratchet, Mario, Sonic, and Fox all finally arrived at the domain of William Sparks. As they walked inside together, they knew that there was absolutely no turning back; there was no way of getting out of this. They had to keep moving straight forward and do what must be done.

They walked farther on into the underground garage. Stony and rough as the walls may be, the place was very well constructed by the hands of William himself. But he did more than just build his hideout physically; he had incredible powers beyond any comprehension that did the rest the work.

The four heroes stepped forward to behold William, who currently wanted to be known as Calypso. He sat upon a throne of broken car parts, waiting to greet those who had come before him. Needles, Dr. Eggman, Bowser, and Wolf had also come to enter into this competition that was soon to erupt.

"Welcome, one and all!" Calypso spoke up to everyone. "Welcome to my domain! I am glad to see you all made it very safely without any vehicles. I have already provided for each of you a vehicle just the way you like it. All you need do is install your weapons and make whatever modifications necessary. You will be required to install a special weapon of your own design in order to make your vehicle more unique. But here is a catch: Ratchet, Mario, Sonic, and Fox are all on one team against the other team of Needles, Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and Wolf. And as for the Straggon here in the middle, it appears he wants to be on his own."

Everyone turned to see Rech standing between the two teams. Only Mario, Sonic, and Eggman right away recognized him, as he recognized those who stared at him. "Calypso…" he spoke up, "…I wish to compete and regain my beloved home planet. That is all I desire from you after I win."

"You mean IF you win, may I correct you," Calypso replied.

"Don't defy me, fool! You are talking to the new king of Straggo! Don't you ever forget it! And may I warn you that if I lose your precious contest, I shall have no choice but to prepare your grave! Do you hear me, Calypso?! I'll make sure you DIE!"

"Please, Rech… Don't be so hasty. Perhaps we should keep things going along and keep all this foolishness behind."

Unhesitant, Rech went to go prepare his vehicle for combat. This was to be more of a destruction derby, or any ordinary Twisted Metal contest hosted by Calypso. This was to be a combination of a racecar combat.

Before Ratchet went with the others to the rest of the garage, he boldly approached Calypso and pulled something out of his pocket. "If I don't make it out of this alive…" he spoke to him as he handed him the handheld remote to the Time Cube, "…make sure Pupuru is safe."

"Ratchet…" Calypso replied, taking the remote, "…there is no need to fear. Everything will be just fine."

As Ratchet prepared the car given to him, the sports car known as Spectre, he began to think heavily on what Calypso had said to him.

"I'm teaming up with my friends on this one," he thought as he loaded his weapons. "I think William is actually up to something. It seems like he wants us to win for him; I saw that look in his eye when he saw me. He actually recognized me right away. He sounded like he wants us to win so we can ask for everything to be back to normal…AS OUR PRIZE! Well, my friends, we shall do what must be done."

At another part of the garage, Needles had already parked his truck safely enough to make whatever necessary prepares and install weapons. He pointed out to his three new allies that Calypso had already made vehicles for them in their own style.

As Orbot and Cubot saw Dr. Eggman's new car, they were startled. "Are you sure we have to ride in these junkies?" Orbot said.

"It's the rules of the game," Eggman replied. "Besides, maybe we'll survive this, and maybe we won't."

"Really…?" Cubot said. With that in mind, he pulled out a glass of water and splashed it at Eggman's face. "See you tomorrow!" he exclaimed as he ran off with Orbot.

"Forget those dumb bots!" Eggman muttered. "Us live beings with intelligence have the brains to make it through this contest! And we'll make sure that we're the winners!"

Alone in a corner, Rech noticed what Calypso did to his vehicle: he had brought in the haunted hearse known as Shadow. Rech thought that this was to be the least helpful, but he still thought of what might happen if he lost.

"If this thing gets destroyed…" he thought, "…I'll make sure to bury Calypso underneath the pile its rubble! Nothing can stand in my way now!"

But Rech was completely wrong; there was something new erupting in the middle of the wasteland of a racecourse. Before modifying their vehicles, the villains had recruited troopers of their own to surround the course and assassinate the heroes. Bunches of psychotic, evil clowns, Koopas, Goombas, and Swat-bots were poised and ready to land an assault upon the brave heroes who were willing to push through and win.

However, there was already a resistance: soldier forces from all realms came to the scene right before the race started. Commander Abraham Tower from Brooklyn came with his G.U.N. Forces, eager to take down what the villains had in store. Even Agent Shepherd, Commander Mason, and Captain Qwark came from Los Angeles with the soldiers of the official U.S. Army. And finally came King Maximilian Acorn with his mighty Mobian army, fighting against the nasty tricks of the frightful foursome.

As the heroic army marched on, the villainous squadron came ever so closer and closer for combat. Agent Shepherd almost could not believe his eyes when he saw Bowser's forces. "It's as if we're fighting little kids!" he exclaimed. "Why do they look so innocent?!"

"You must remember…" Commander Mason replied to him, "…that normal clowns are not as psychotic as Needles himself. We're fighting against those who were NEVER in the circus!"

"Look!" Captain Qwark interrupted as he pointed something out. "Here comes Ratchet, racing out like crazy!"

"And down there!" King Max added. "There rides Sir Sonic and Sir Mario! Let us make sure our action is not too wild. TOO BATTLE!"

As gunfire began to roar throughout the course, Ratchet too was startled to see the chaos that was occurring all over him. "We've landed right into a trap!" he exclaimed as he drove Spectre into curves, trying to avoid the fellow soldiers.

"Let's try not to worry about it too much," Sonic replied as he raised his array of projectile missiles on his car Roadkill. "We must push through if we want to survive this!"

"But shouldn't we help those guys?" Fox objected as he turned the wheel of Crazy 8. "It looks like they're about to be deep-fried!"

"Don't get too distracted!" Mario interrupted as he raised his turret on Outlaw. "They're doing their job so we can do ours! Only WE can wish for things to be back to the way it should be!" Bearing those words in mind, Mario set his vehicle to "auto-pilot" mode and reached to the roof of the car, where he accessed a miniature turret.

Rech noticed Mario in his move, but he had the same idea of using Shadow's hidden turret as well. He raised himself up to the roof of the hearse and began to fire the turret's machine gun rapidly at Mario.

But Mario was agile enough to dodge out of harm's way and shoot back at his bait. Neither of their guns reached each other, but their vehicles came ever so closer to each other, they both clashed by accident. Rech saw this as the perfect opportunity to reach out and wallop Mario very hard, yet Mario himself was as skilled as the fighter he always was.

"Your moves are always the same, Mario!" Rech taunted. "In my blood, I can always sense when you will strike!"

Suddenly, without knowing it, Mario heard a voice calling inside his head. It was Tails' good friend Courtney, sending him a telepathic message of warning. "GET DOWN!" she called. Mario saw what she meant just at that split-second as his vehicle passed underneath a low bridge. He ducked just in time, but Rech was hit, left without warning as he was pushed back.

"He claimed to sense my tactics," Mario thought. "But he's too crazy if he can't sense any hazards in this place!"

Furious and angered, Rech steadied his vehicle and aligned it with the villains' vehicles. He saw Eggman come with his vehicle, Warthog, and noticed him pulling a pistol out of his secret pocket. "So we meet again, Rech!" Eggman exclaimed as he pointed the pistol at Rech's head. "If nothing else can stop you from ruining my plans against Sonic, then it will be THIS BULLET IN YOUR HEAD!"

Eggman fired the shot, but Rech quickly moved his head just in time to dodge it. And yet, the bullet had successfully reached a victim anyway: Commander Mason. The commander for the U.S. Army who had fought valiantly now became victim to this conspiracy started by Master Hand.

Agent Shepherd grabbed hold of his good friend and felt his heart. By then, it was too late. Mason was already gone for good. "The filthy killers!" Shepherd screamed. "I'LL GET YOU!"

Dr. Eggman's new sensation for murdering had almost made him unstoppable. Ratchet now found this as his turn to avenge this unfortunate death and strike back. He quickly turned his car to a corner where he met with Eggman side-by-side. Furiously, he took out his special Omniwrench and used it to snatch Eggman's pistol away from him.

"So we meet again, Ratchet!" the mad genius said to him. "I'll make sure you meet the same fate as that commander!"

Ratchet did not say anything back to the madman; he simply raised his wrench again, ready to strike. Eggman thought that he was about him hard, so he braced himself for the impact. But Ratchet instead destroyed the controls of Warthog, leaving it inactive and inoperative.

"I may have made short work of him…" Ratchet thought as he sped away, "…but I still have a hard journey to fulfill."

Needles suggested to Wolf to go up ahead and annoy Sonic as a distraction. Wolf, driving Junkyard Dog, went along with the idea and went side-by-side with Sonic. He attempted to use his wrecking ball, attached to the vehicle, to bash Roadkill away while Needles put into action his plan.

Needles transformed his truck Sweet Tooth into a powerful robot, which was his mostly-used ability. A potent weapon of twenty firing missiles flied out from one of the robot's hands, aiming directly towards Sonic himself. But nobody—not even the pure evil Needles—could ever kill the fastest creature in the universe. Sonic quickly maneuvered his vehicle to avoid every single missile that almost struck him. Wolf ended up being hit by the missiles instead, causing his vehicle to be completely destroyed.

"If we keep this up…" Sonic thought as he drove along, "…we can reach the finish line in no time flat!"

Bowser, Needles, and Rech were the only ones that the heroes needed to deal with. They looked as angry as ever as they ran over anyone who stood in their way. The battle around them raged on even more, Needles had no choice but to shoot at the soldiers while he drove on. "They will all be sorry that they picked on me!" he thought angrily. "Victory shall be MINE!"

Bowser, in his giant dump truck Manslaughter, drove as fast as he could; his vehicle was the slowest, but it was actually the strongest. As he drove by Dr. Eggman and his wrecked vehicle, he quickly reached out and snatched away Ratchet's wrench; he planned to use it for a very deadly assault.

Bowser looked straight ahead very carefully and aimed the wrench at Spectre. Once it was on target, he threw the Omniwrench right underneath the car and stopped it right in its tracks. Ratchet was stuck and could not move on at all; the wrench had severely damaged his car's wheels. But that was not all that Bowser did; he then threw a big load of flaming hot coals at Spectre, setting it on fire and damaging it even more.

Fox saw what had happened as Bowser quickly drove away. He would have gone after the dinosaur to avenge Ratchet, but he stopped at the damaged Spectre instead. He quickly got out and yanked the wrench from underneath the car; he used it to bash the door open and pull Ratchet out from under the wreckage.

"You must go on!" Ratchet pleaded Fox. "I'm out of the game now that my car is destroyed! There's nothing I can do now!"

"That's not how Calypso set the rules," Fox objected. "And besides, a good space ranger never lets a good friend down!" With that, he brought Ratchet into the passenger seat of Crazy 8 and sped off towards the finish line that waited at the end.

Fox had a brilliant idea once he reached behind Manslaughter. Quickly, he ignited a special Omnitaser and used it to zap Bowser's truck. All the electricity of the vehicle short-circuited and died out, leaving Bowser with an inoperative dump truck.

Needles and Rech were almost neck-and-neck with each other, fighting at last place far behind the heroes. No matter how many times Needles would attempt to shoot Rech, he would always feel unsatisfied with his misses. Then, he had the idea of taking out a special weapon of his own design—a "Napalm Cone"—and attempted to throw it at the hearse.

Rech quickly shot the deadly bomb while it was in mid-air and let it explode. Needles was very confused because he did not see Rech's gun draw out. The Napalm Cone exploded right in front of the ice cream truck, causing it to spin out of control; Needles lost his grip and began to tumble out of the toppling truck. The villain was defeated, leaving Rech his opportunity to win the race.

The truck's explosion caused some heavy casualties with the soldiers in battle. Agent Shepherd's arm broke while trying to dive out of the way; Commander Tower immediately called for the helicopter Warhawk to stop its doing and to come carry Shepherd away.

"Are you seriously shooing me away?" Shepherd exclaimed.

"Do you want to end up like your friend?" the commander objected. "You've done your job here. The captain, the king, and I will finish it all here."

Shepherd respected the decision and let Warhawk take him to the base. The pilots of the helicopter called for many tankers to come and fill their job before bringing Warhawk back into the action.

Meanwhile, the Time Cube had materialized right in the heat of battle. Pupuru carefully walked out with Luigi, Tails, Link, and Clank; Falco stayed behind to try and find a weak spot inside the Time Cube. "Look!" Luigi exclaimed as he pointed out to Mario down at the racecourse. "There's Mario! It looks like he's going to win this race!"

"It looks like he's on a team with everyone else!" Tails added. "But I see Rech down there! He better not win this!"

"We don't have much time!" Pupuru interrupted. "Qwark and the king are in trouble, and we better go help them!"

"If this helps us to free Harkinian from the time vortex…" Link added, "…then so be it! CHARGE!"

With that loud battle cry, the battle had finally met its end as the heroes cut down every last enemy. Qwark, Max, and Abraham were very pleased to call for complete victory. The battle had been won, and so only the rest of the race was left to take care of.

Rech was gaining on the heroes, very close to the finish line, which was only scant yards away from reaching. His anger and hunger for victory distracted him from what the heroes was up to. He did not notice until later that Mario, Fox, and Sonic had all backed away from Rech to charge up and prepare their special weapons.

First, Fox activated his taser and zapped Rech's hearse with full electric power. While that was happening, Mario used his turret to fire at Rech with full force. And finally, Sonic charged up all projectile missiles, then fired them straight at the hearse, destroying it completely.

Rech had been defeated. The heroes were victorious as they crossed the finish line, while excitement filled their leaping hearts. They had won.

Part C: The Universe Restored

The victorious foursome ran back into Calypso's garage, where he congratulated them with excitement. But—what's more—Pupuru and his group, along with the leaders of the brave soldiers, came rushing in with excitement, embracing their friends.

 **(Note: It would be corny for me to say, "There was much rejoicing". Let's just move along, shall we?)**

But Rech was still angry; he still promised Calypso about his death since he lost the race. Now it seemed like his chance to strike.

"This is where it all comes to your end, Calypso!" he angrily exclaimed as he ran towards him. "I promised you your death, and I'm going to keep that promise!"

But he spoke too soon; King Max came right behind him and struck him heavily on the head to knock him out unconscious. "Nice to see you again!" Max teased as he landed the blow upon the Straggon's head.

Even King Plague and Master Hand were furious about their defeat; they descended directly into their new realm, where they would settle their score with Calypso. "He has betrayed us all!" Plague exclaimed. "Bring me the four who had been defeated! We shall take him and the victors together!"

Going along with the plan, Needles, Eggman, Bowser, and Wolf united with Plague and Master Hand, hungry for the revenge they sought. Calypso knew of their plan and quickly put his next move into action.

"You have no idea…" he said to them, "…I helped these friends of mine on purpose! I wanted them to win so that I am granted the power to put the universe back to normal. And while I still have this power, I may command you all to go back to your wretched domains! And take Rech with you; may he never step foot upon our beloved realms again!"

With a wave of his hands, Calypso called upon his powers and used them to send the villains back to where they had come from. In addition, he created an uncontainable force field to block them from coming back down to the peaceful realms.

"You justified my faith in you," Ratchet said to him after all was done. "I thought you would be up to something."

"I WANTED you to win this, my friends," Calypso replied. "I knew you wanted to clear my name and bring me to you and your fellow League of Heroes. Today, I shall go by my real name William Sparks; and—what's more—I shall join your team once everything is back to normal."

With that, William commanded his powers once more to bring the planets to their rightful places and destroy the new world that Master Hand had created. And just like that, Earth, Veldin, Mobius, and Corneria were back to normal.

"But we have forgotten!" Link exclaimed. "The king is still trapped within the vortex!"

"I know," William replied. "He too shall be freed."

Back at Hyrule, Zelda was surprised to see her father back at the kingdom, safe and sound.

"Father!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"You saved me!" Harkinian replied, embracing his daughter.

While the king was away, Duke Onkland was actually planning sabotage upon the kingdom. Here he was, arrested for his crime.

"Please, your omnipotence!" Onkland pleaded. "Have mercy!"

"After you've scrubbed all the floors in Hyrule…" Harkinian replied, "…then we can talk about mercy. Take him away!'

Back at the restored universe, in which everyone had landed at Veldin, William did one more thing to settle things. "Link…" he spoke up, "…I will send you back to Hyrule, but you must never remember all that had transpired today. I have spoken!"

With his powers, William erased a portion of Link's memory, then sent him back to Hyrule, just in time to satisfy Zelda's question as to where he had gone.

"What happened?" Link said as he materialized at the Hyrule castle. "Everything seems like a fogged dream."

"You're just in time for a feast," Zelda replied as she chuckled. She and the king laughed together as they celebrated an unforgettable moment.

Ratchet and Pupuru offered everyone a ride back to their homes, using the Time Cube to bring them to their correct places. Ratchet had to use his remote to unlock all controls on the Time Cube's computer console so it was completely operational again.

First, he took Fox and Falco back to Corneria, then dropped Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails off at Mobius. The final trip was taking Commander Tower back to Brooklyn. William, Captain Qwark, and Clank remained behind with Ratchet and Pupuru as they headed somewhere special.

"Where are we going now?" Pupuru asked. "We've done our business; so shouldn't we go back home?"

"I promised I'd take you to Wisconsin, remember?" Ratchet replied, chuckling. "We were falling into Mr. Grimm's trap on Veldin, and I had mentioned that beautiful state. Let's get going, my friends! And may this be a day to remember throughout all of time! Because, it's a matter of accepting the trials and going through them to find your way to happiness. That's what I call the key to freedom!"

 **THE END!**

 **I WANT TO THANK MY FAMILY FOR THEIR SUPPORT; TO MOM, DAD, FORREST, HUDSON, GEORGE, JAMES, JON, BRIANA, RACHEL, CHRISTOPHER, KEN, GRANDMAS AND GRANDPAS, UNCLE BLAIR, AUNT VALERIE, UNCLE TREVOR, GREAT UNCLE GREG, AND MY CAT WILSON (EVEN THOUGH HE IS AN IDIOT SOMETIMES). I ALSO WANT TO THANK THE FRIENDS AND FOES I HAD MADE OVER THE YEARS; ELIAS, ELEANOR, MARCIE, ISAAC, KAL, AUSTIN, EVAN, AARON, FERNANDO, DEREK, RHYAN, ROLAND, ISAAC, DENNIS, SAMARTHA, SARAH, KATIE, MIRANDA, NATASHA, WONMEN, JACOB, CHLOE, MAURICE, JACOB, VINCE, LORI, CURT, DIANE, JACOB, BLAKE, TYLER, TIFFANY, CHRISTIAN, CHRISTA, SARAH, BRENT, ETHAN, DEB, JEREMY, RACHEL, SIGNEY, JAEDA, MADISON, DAVID, JUNIOR, ALEC, GARY, MARY, JAMIE, ALEX, RACHEL, JOHN, JASON, ANDRE, JONATHAN, STEPHEN, DANIELLE, JENNY, ALLISON, EMILY, SARAH, JANA, AL, RICK, VAL, STEPHEN, TIM, DARIAN, KYANA, CONNOR, COLTON, JOSHUA, ANTHONY, CORDELL, GAGE, KATIE, BRENNAN, STEW, JESS, PAT, JEAN, TROY, NEIL, SCOTT, DEBRA, TALIA, KELLY, MARK, STEVE, ANNA, RYAN, BETHANY, CLARA, ERIC, RIE, LEXI, ERIK, SARAH, EMERY, DAN, CALA, COLE, MICHELLE, MICHAEL, BILL, DAVE, ANDREW, REBEKAH, RACHEL, AND MORE. THIS ALSO GOES OUT TO MY WRITING PARTNERS AND FANS; , SKYE PROWER 2014, WARRIORSONAMY, AND THE HOWLING FAN WHO KEEPS CHANGING HIS NAME (NOT TO OFFEND HIM, THOUGH). THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, AND GOD BLESS YOU!**

Notes and references:

It was in the recent episode of the PlayStation All-Stars series that Needles was thrown into the time vortex. Master Hand had confused Ratchet enough to free the villain.

The kidnapping of the heroes and villains is reminiscent to the kidnapping of the Doctors in "Doctor Who: The Five Doctors". I had already used that element long ago in a chapter from the cancelled PSASBR series.

Mario's conversation with Sonic is similar to the Second Doctor's talk with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in "The Five Doctors". Sonic had already known about Ratchet because of that other crossover I made, "PlayStation All-Stars X Super Sonic Squad".

I consider the CD-i game "Zelda: Wand of Gamelon" to be non-canon to the real Legend of Zelda storyline. But because I made a story in 2013, I decided to bring it back because of all the hard work I did on it. So I just slapped my own version of the CD-i game into this story; I wanted Link and King Harkinian to be a part of it.

King Harkinian's quotes are all from "Zelda: Wand of Gamelon," including "I wonder what's for dinner". That quote became a popular YouTube meme, used a lot in YouTube Poop videos.

Mario and Sonic's reaction to the new world includes quotes from the "Super Mario Bros." movie. I'm talking about the live-action film from 1993 starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, and Dennis Hopper. Sony is currently working on a new animated movie "The Super Mario Brothers", soon to be released in 2016.

I did not show Courtney physically in this story. She only sends a telepathic message to Mario, as she did with Agape in Super Sonic Squad season three. Agape, formerly known as Count Cobra, is only mentioned here, not completely shown.

Calypso's garage is reminiscent of his domain from the very first "Twisted Metal". The element somewhat returned in "Twisted Metal: Head-On", only this time it was a junkyard.

Spectre, Outlaw, Roadkill, Crazy 8, Sweet Tooth, Warthog, Junkyard Dog, Manslaughter, and Shadow are all vehicles from the Twisted Metal franchise, specifically "Twisted Metal: Black".

I practically picture the racecourse to be the lands of Veldin.

Yes, the end is almost like "The Five Doctors", but quite different.

In the PSASBR story, "Rise of the Reaper", Ratchet promised Pupuru that he would take her to Wisconsin sometime. That is where I was born: Kenosha, Wisconsin; June 27, 1998.

You can find trailers and tributes to this story on YouTube. #ColeiosisMediaTribute


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